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Ethan Edwards
Ethan Edwards is the main protagonist of the 1956 film, The Searchers. He's a racist towards Native Americans including the Comanches who killed most of his family, and kidnapped his niece. History Before the film Ever since a group of Indians had killed Ethan's mother, Ethan had been very close to his family. He would talk about his interests with his brother Aaron and had in general had a loving relationship with them. Then he had suddenly abandoned them to fight in the Civil War as a Confederate solider against the Indians, including Chief Scar. He had refused to admit defeat during the war, and it's been suggested that he has robbed some Yankee banks during the war right before he had arrived at his brother Aaron's place at the beginning of the film. Some time before the events of the film, Ethan had a recused an orphaned Martin from a Indian slaughter and got to know him as he brought Martin to Aaron's family where Aaron adopted him. During the film First day back He's first seen returning to his family's home on horseback after previously leaving to fight in the Civil War. His family greeted him and welcomed from back to the cabin. Inside, Ethan had mistook his niece Debbie for Lucy (due to being away from them so long.) During supper, Aaron's adopted son, Martin arrived and greeted Ethan who refused to acknowledge him as a true relative due to his Indian blood. After supper, Ethan sat in a rocking chair as Ben asked about Ethan's experience as a Confederate solider which Ethan doesn't want to talk about. Oblivious to the unspoken overtones already established, the kids are excited to see Ethan and gather around him as he gives away mementos of his past to his brother's children. Debbie tells her Uncle Ethan that Lucy is wearing the gold locket that he gave her when she was a little girl, and she would like one too. Ethan retorts when asked about Yankee dollars. Later that night before bedtime, Ethan is left alone on the porch with only the dog for company and a sad, reflective look on his face. As he turns back to look into the door frame of the house, he sees Aaron taking Martha to their bedroom and closing their door for the night. Second day back The next morning, during breakfast, Aaron's norwegian neighbor, Mr. Lars Jorgensen, and Captain/Reverend Samuel Johnson Clayton arrive with a posse of local folks. The Reverend greeted Martha as "Sister Edwards." They're concerned about Comanche marauders and Indian uprisings. The Indians had stolen some cattle from the Lars Jorgensen ranch nearby, and they want to hunt for them. Sitting down to breakfast and coffee, he asks if Debbie was baptised yet. Aaron and Marty are deputized to help the Captain and the Texas Rangers find the cattle thieves. During the deputy oath, Ethan walks into the scene from the background. Clayton greets "the prodigal brother" and wonders about Ethan's whereabouts following the Civil War and the South's surrender three years earlier. Still linked by his oath of loyalty to the Confederacy, Ethan claims he never relinquished his Confederate cloak or saber after the surrender. Lured from the ranch Later that day, Ethan and the posse leave the cabin on horseback. Marty calls Ethan "uncle" along the way, while Ethan states he could just call him "Ethan". After riding 40 miles away from their homesteads, the posse finds their cattle slaughtered but not eaten. Ethan suddenly realized they had been tricked into abandoning their reaching and leaving them unprotected and races back to Aaron's place when he realized they could be attacked, while a section of the troop went to protect another potential target, but by the time Ethan and Martin got back to Edwards' place, it was too late, and Ethan's brother, sister-in-law and nephew had all been killed by the Indians, while the nieces where being held hostage by them. He keeps Marty from seeing the horrible aftermath of the Comanche massacre worried that he would be paralyzed like him. Hunting for the nieces Ethan's posse holds a funeral in the desert for the massacred Edwards family, the assembled people gathered around the graves sing Shall We Gather at the River. Ethan tries to hurry the proceedings along, impatient and contemptuous of the ritualistic customs that hold society together, and ready to begin the search. He was more interested in vengeance than ritual, and tells Reverend Clayton as he authoritatively moves away and draws other mourners with him to abruptly end the ceremony. Ethan decides to take matters into his own hands, and the search party is reassembled and gives chase following the Comanche's trail, composed of Ethan, Marty, teenaged Brad Jorgensen (Lucy's sweetheart and fiancee), Captain Clayton, and other rangers. Ethan sets out to find his two nieces, Lucy and Debbie, motivated by his love for Martha and a homicidal rage against the Indians, unaware this was the start of a five-year journey. Mrs. Jorgensen pleads with an inattentive Ethan to not seek vengeance before he begins his obsessive search. Along the way, the searchers find a Comanche buried under a large sandstone rock. Ethan takes his gun and shoots two bullets at the Indian corpse, aiming at its eyes. Although Reverend Clayton interprets his senseless, excessive act as vindictive and contemptuous, Ethan explains how his defilement of the Indian has thwarted the spiritual belief of the Comanche, causing his spirit to wander forevermore. The group's plan is to find and ransom the girls alive rather than attack the Comanches and provoke retaliation against the two hostages. But Ethan is confrontational to the group and to Marty. He is more interested in vengeance than in finding the girls alive. When the Reverend whether asks him if he wants to quit his vengeful search, Ethan vows to keep searching. The first Comanche encounter The next day, Comanches appear on the upper horizon and surround Ethan's troop by flanking them between two parallel lines, and chase them across river. Before they attack again, the posse takes a defensive position on the far bank of the river. Clayton offers his Bible to one of the wounded men. Ethan recognizes the chief's "death song" before the actual attack. Mose gives his thanks. After shooting his first Indian, Martin actually cries and throws down his gun, showing more compassion for the Indians than anyone else. During the vicious attack, Ethan confidently fires away alongside Clayton. During the withering gunfire, Clayton cries out triumphantly, but when he runs out of ammunition and curses, Ethan throws him a revolver, and jokes with him. Angered by Ethan's caustic wit, Clayton grabs the hat off his head and sails it across toward Ethan, striking him in the stomach with it. Their repetitive tossing of objects at each other conveys the delicate balance of enmity and respect that exists between them. When the Indians retreat and carry off their dead, Ethan persists in firing upon the retreating war party with savage blood-lust, while Clayton attempts to stop him. Violently snarling back and displaying sublimated emotional hatred, Ethan tells Clayton that he wants to continue on alone without interference. Most of the posse turns back, but Ethan reluctantly takes Brad and Marty along with him to pursue them alone, and saying he would give the orders. The troop is tired Ethan, Martin and Brad were the only members of the troop who were still on the search. As they were walking with their horses, Ethan shares more of his Native American knowledge to the troop. The trio of searchers find that the Comanches have broken their trail, with four horses cutting off into a narrow pass. Ethan follows the four horses to take a look while Brad and Martin circle around, warning them not to "fire a shot," "build bonfires, nor beat drums." In the day-for-night filmed scene, Ethan (without his coat) gallops out and meets them on the "far side" of the sandstone rock canyons. He is bewildered, agitated and incensed, and digs at the earth with his knife - a mimicry of the rape act he has just imagined happening. He discovers Lucy's body but hides it from the others. Later after riding on further in the twilight, they spot the Indian campsite about a half mile away. Brad mistakenly believes he has seen Lucy in the midst of an Indian camp, but Ethan corrects him with a ferocious tone. Brad gets upset over Lucy's death with anguish and rides off into a nearly Indian camp where he's shot and killed offscreen. Later after a certain amount of time has passed, Ethan and Martin had lost the Comanches' trail in the snow. They continue their hunt, passing through different seasons, and enduring hard winters, blizzards and snow. Martin thought the search was pointless, but Ethan was undaunted by that bad weather and setbacks in his relentless search - fearing but unable to articulate what may happen to Debbie once she becomes a pubescent teenager. He explains further knowledge of Indian beliefs. One Year Later Over a year later, the duo arrive back at the Jorgensen's homestead. The Jorgensens emerge from the doorway into the light of the outside when they ride into view. Mr. Jorgensen mentions that it's been about a year since they received Ethan's letter telling of Brad's death. He bemoans the unspoken fact that the open frontier is unforgiving. On the porch that evening, Ethan explains where they've been in the previous year or two: from N. Texas to New Mexico, and then back to Indian Territory. Mrs. Jorgensen then expresses her pioneering hopes for better times as a populist Texican. Lars comments about the firmness of his wife when she announces bedtime. Before they settle down that night, Ethan's given a letter to read that came during the previous winter from Mr. Futterman, and finds inside it a "snip of calico." The scrap of cloth is recognized by Mrs. Jorgensen as material from an apron that Debbie previously worn. After Laurie is called away to prepare for bed, she boldly kisses Martin -- within in Ethan's presence. Ethan assures Marty that he doesn't need to continue the search, since Debbie isn't blood kin to him and because he has been offered a life with the Jorgensens (including Laurie). Martin objects to making kinship strictly a matter of blood. Although there is enmity between the two, Marty still wants to join Ethan. After only a short overnight stay, Ethan rides off without Marty, away from the settlements and civilization. However, Marty has gradually realized that the racist, Indian-hating Ethan would kill his niece Debbie once he found her, rather than save her. Marty had to reluctantly leave his girlfriend behind again, fleeing once more from her aggressive advances. When he first sees her in the morning, he suddenly grabs and kisses her, and she enthusiastically returns the favor. Smitten with Marty, Laurie reveals the letter that Ethan had received the day before, from trader Futterman - with news about Debbie. Martin begins to read the letter with great difficulty, due to his near-illiteracy, until Laurie impatiently grabs it away, and reads it to him. Futterman has a small trading post on the south fork of the Brazos River, where Martin knows he can catch up to Ethan. An exasperated Laurie gives Marty her own horse, again providing for his needs, but expresses how heartbroken she feels. She won't wait around for him any longer. After Martin catches up to Ethan, the two searchers at Futterman's trading post ask the trader what he knows about Debbie's dress and whereabouts, but he first demands a $1,000 reward. Ethan reimburses Futterman for the postage for the letter, the dress, and his time with some of his gold-coin "Yankee dollars", promising the remainder later. Then, Futterman reveals what he knew about the dress. That night at their campfire the Ethan sets up, Marty senses that they are being followed and are about to be ambushed for the reward money, although Ethan dismisses Marty's idea. But using an unknowing Martin as bait, Ethan disguises his own bedroll and waits for the impending attack, and then shoots all three of Futterman's gang when their campsite is assaulted, including Futterman himself. Martin was not happy about finding out Ethan had used him and nearly got him killed, but Ethan rubbed it off. The Letter Scene Martin and Ethan were still trying to catch up to the Comanches Mr. Futterman told us about. They went north through Indian Territory and had instantly found Kiowas, Wichitas and Comanches camped by one of the agencies. But they couldn't find Nawyeckas who know about Scar -- who Mr. Futterman said had Debbie. At one of the agencies, they outfitted with various trade goods as he thought it would make it easier for them to come and go. Martin bartered two blue silk rosettes and hats with a plump Indian woman (and her father), in exchange for a blanket. He also unintentionally acquires a chubby and homely Indian bride. Thinking they were a week away from catching up to Scar's hostile band, Ethan led Martin away from his trading session. They are soon followed by Marty's new Indian bride on horseback, whom he accidentally purchased a derby hat from. Shadowed by the new Indian wife, Ethan taunts Martin about it, and encourages the Indian to follow them. Later on, Martin's new squaw serves them coffee, and mistakenly receives the name "Look" after Martin tells her: "Oh, Look, I sure do wish I could make you understand. Oh." Ethan interprets her Comanche words about her fancy name. That night, as "Look" dutifully lies down next to Marty, he maddenedly kicks her off his bedroll and down the hill where they are camped, causing a racist Ethan to give a horse-laugh and react: "You know that's grounds for di-vorce in Texas! You're really rough." Ethan and Marty both hold Look by each arm and ask her about Chief Scar, causing a look of terror in her face. During the night, Look runs away, leaving directional markers on the ground with an arrow of rocks. As Ethan and Martin followed the markers, they approached a snow-covered area where buffalo are gathered. Ethan shoots one of the buffalo, causing the rest to stampede. Then he goes into a passionate frenzy, shooting wildly at the herd - his senseless slaughter of the buffalo is intended to starve and deprive the Indians of food. Marty protests the deliberate killings to deny food to the Indians but Ethan doesn't listen. Bugle sounds of a cavalry troop in the distance are heard merging with Ethan's gunshots, as they sight the renowned Seventh Cavalry. The cavalry is riding beautiful horses in lines, galloping through an icy river, and carry colorful flags against the white of the snow. Ethan and Marty ride up into an Indian camp/village, a scene of more slaughter - bloody corpses lie everywhere on the snowy ground, the result of a cavalry massacre, and a return to the cycle of retributive slaughter of one race by another. In a tepee, Ethan finds "Look"'s body among the dead, covers her with a blanket and rubs snow from her derby hat. Martin is disturbed by the sight of her body and her cruel and senseless death at the hands of US soldiers. He was remorseful but not vengeful. He gave "Look" the benefit of the doubt regarding whether she was killed trying to warn the Nawyecka or to find Debbie for him. The Seventh Cavalry herds captives into a fort, and Ethan and Martin inquire about inspecting the white captives rescued from the Comanches. In the fort's chapel, they find one half-crazy young white woman moaning to her doll, driven mad by her years among the Indians. When they approach, the crazed girl makes a lunatic howl. Two other young girls hang on to each other, both insane and with a wild look on their faces. Ethan reacts with revulsion toward the broken human beings and their insane ramblings, staring toward the one terrified girl crooning to Debbie's rag doll. None of the survivors were Debbie. Ethan's hard-driven, ultimately five-year mission to find Debbie becomes a combination of self-discovery, revenge in the name of Martha's death, racist hatred and intolerance, use of survivalist techniques and knowledge of the ways of the Indians, and now homicidal rage. The two of them had set out for New Mexico Territory the next the morning, and predicted he wouldn't be back at the Jorgensens household for a while. Martin had written to letter addressed to the Jorgensens addressing every that had happened up to that point. 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